7.8.17

Trip to Monterey & Big Sur with Kuya Ron and Arthur

Quite a bit has happened over the summer and I would love to tell you all; however, a blog post is not enough to explain everything. Things are changing! Change is both good and bad. I got my high school diploma, touched based with lots of family and friends, and got to meet wonderful people. Unfortunately, after high school, everyone knows its impossible to keep up with everyone. People come and go. A lot has changed over the summer like: people, places, mindset, and goals. It is all for the better.

In regards of change:

– I have decided to take up videos. It is worth a shot and will allow me to express myself further as an artist. Being the person I am, I am going to do my best with filling my time. Along with music, photography, school, and a job. Video will be more on my plate. Its a challenge for myself.

-Thanks to my Auntie Vicky and Neal! I have started film photography. Still waiting to get them developed but it is coming soon.

-Blogs posts will be a lot different. I am going to do my best to keep up with them and make them a priority. But, on another level it will be more photos than writing. Hopefully a video sometime soon! I will have a ton of posts that will be dating back to the summer. I will not lie, I had a creative and emotional stump between summer and school. I am still yet to edit a lot of photos. Stay tuned for the next week.

-I am finally at Northern Virginia Community College. It is really not what I expected, a lot of my friends have left. It is just Ian and I. To look on the bright side, it is more time to myself. But, it is a big chance for me. I can work on my creative side with photography and work hard in school. As well as a job.

-A new layout & portfolio will also be coming soon. It will be gnarly.

I spent a day in Santa Cruz with my friend Emma and it was spectacular. Saw Shark Fin Cove which was by far one of my favorite places in California. It was just so unique on that beautiful day. I finally saw a four leaf clover with my own eyes, learned that I love Redwoods, and love playing my ukulele for people on the beach.

Intro – Logic (Under Pressure)

Everyone knows someone that is a good leader. A leader is someone who has struggled to get to where they are today, inspires others, leads by example, and always willing to help others. Logic is one of the people. Logic is easily my favorite musician, listening to his music makes you feel like you are his best friend and you know who he is. He tells his story in his music and not most do that. He has struggled to get to where he is today, growing up he didn’t live the perfect childhood. Logic like a superhero that is born out of a crisis and rose out of tough times. I have been a fan since I listened to 925. After, I backtracked and listened to his first unofficial mix tape “Psychological”, than his first official “Young, Broke, & Infamous”, “Young Sinatra” and all the way up to the first album “Under Pressure”. I remember waiting for the album, I skipped school just to listen to it. Under Pressure raised my standards for hip hop and rap, there has been no other album that has topped it.

Under Pressure Album Cover

The intro is a perfect intro for Under Pressure, it highlights everything Logic talks about in the album. At the end of the intro, he says “You can really do anything” four times. This is why I always listen to this song when I need motivation. I would listen to it before my wrestling match, when I would doubt myself for anything, this intro is the perfect intro.

I consider Logic to be a role model for all his fans, a lot of people look up to him because he is really a great guy. The first concert I went to he preached about Peace, Love, and Positivity. He got mad at the crowd for two guys fighting; “we are all family motherf****s, there is no need to fight” were his exact words. Then he preached about Peace, Love and Positivity once more and the show went on.

I believe if Logic grew up struggling with his friends to become as successful as he is today, then anything is possible. Logic worked hard to get where he is today, hard works beats anything. He leads his fans by example, shows his true colors to us, and preaches peace, love, and positivty. Hearing an artist say “You can really do anything” in their songs speaks. To me, this songs speaks to me saying “If I can make my dream come true, you can really do anything”.

Do your best to strive and do more, because you can really do anything. If you can dream it you can achieve it!

Often times I find myself making excuses and I am doing my best to stop that. I am just like anyone else, I am only human. However, a lot of excuses people make are just completely unnecessary. They are dumb excuses, you’re just weighing yourself down from achieving a goal or doing more.

Since I started taking photography seriously, I’ve been approached or caught in conversation about photography. People would say they love photography and say they cant take cool photos because they are not in a good location. (excuse) Some say, my photo equipment is not good enough to take a decent photo. (excuse) Numerous people would say that they do not have good subjects to take photos of. (excuse) Even I used to make this mistake until I watched another vlog by Andrew Kearns.

Vlog 17 is mainly about tulips, moms, dads, bangers, and GEAR. This vlog inspired me especially because before I used to make excuses about not having good enough photos because of gear. But no, the title of the vlog is “Gear doesn’t matter, practice does”. The camera I was shooting with was a Canon G1X (and an Iphone 5s) and produced pretty good photos. I’ve taken most of my photos with it and most people thought I took it on a Canon Mark 3 or something. I kept practicing with what I had and dealing with it. I kept taking photos and the more I did that my photography got better and better. Practice is what makes you better, not materialistic things like gear.

Saying you don’t have good enough gear is like saying: “I don’t have a gym membership to so I cant work out”, Go to push ups or go on a run. Stop making excuses, if you have something like a goal or a deadline. Go do it, there is nothing stopping you. Look at the goal, not the obstacles such as an excuse. Once you stop making excuses, the closer you get to your goal.

Naruto

In 1997, Masashi Kishimoto, created one of the greatest manga of all time called Naruto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable ninja, who is constantly searching for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage. The Hokage is the ninja of his village who is the leader and the strongest of all. The predominant theme is to never give up, just like Naruto. Growing up he was hated by the village and the weakest in his class, he worked hard day and night to get approval from everyone. He has endured pain and hatred; however, it never stopped him from working hard to reach his goal.

“There are two types of ninjas, those who are born with talent and don’t have to work at it, and those who have to train everyday of their lives. I will prove my point that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” -Rock Lee

The source of all bad habits is laziness, ninjas like Naruto, Might Guy, and Rock Lee teach is that hard work beats everything. Laziness is something we should overcome, work hard for what you want to achieve, practice in private and you will be praised in public. Work hard while everyone is sleeping or being lazy, because it will pay off just like it did for Naruto. Day and night he is always working hard to prove his skills and to be acknowledged by others.

If you make mistakes that is okay. Mistakes are inevitable. Don’t blame anyone else for your mishaps. Learn from your mistakes and continue to work hard. When the nine-tailed fox was unleashed from inside Naruto and hurt people, he did not blame the fox for his actions. He took full responsibility for what happened. Naruto trained himself to not let hate and anger take over so an incident like that would never happen again.

Naruto reminds us, it’s not the face of a person that makes them a monster. It’s the choices they make that makes them a monster. Make the right choices, have faith in yourself and have a clear goal of what you want to achieve. Always remember, do not see the obstacles, see the goal. You need to believe in yourself for others to believe in you. If they say you can’t do it, prove them wrong just like Naruto.